‘The Suicide Squad’ Spoiler Review – Recidivisions

After an exact five years since the first film, the DC Extended Universe’s Suicide Squad returns. This time, a new list of supervillains band together with James Gunn as the writer and the director. The Suicide Squad is the comic book franchise’s first blockbuster film to hit theaters since February 2020’s Birds of Prey. (Does Patty Jenkins’s Wonder Woman 1984 in December 2020 really count?)

In this spoiler review, I will discuss and analyze the details of the film’s overall narrative. Please beware if you have not yet seen it, but just know I plan to go all out.

Plot Summary

The film follows Belle Reve’s Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) as she sends two teams of prisoners to the shores of Corto Maltese. Their mission is to locate Jotunheim, a large building that contains an extraterrestrial entity, referred to as “Project Starfish”. Most of the first team is killed in a blaze of gunfire and smoke, leaving Colonel Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) and Harleen Quinzel aka Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) as the sole survivors. Freedom fighters led by Sol Soria (Alice Braga) rescue Flag. Meanwhile, soldiers of the country’s President and the General capture Quinn.

The second team finds Flag and Quinn, then heads to Jotunheim to detonate the base of operations. However, the entity “Starro the Conqueror” breaks out of its laboratory confinement and takes over the minds of Corto Maltese’s people. Christopher Smith/ Peacemaker (John Cena) betrays the group under Waller’s instructions. Robert DuBois/ Bloodsport (Idris Elba) is able to gain the upper hand and seemingly kills him. The team overcomes the giant alien creature, but not before Flag and Abner Krill/ Polka-Dot Man (David Dastamalchian) are killed in the process.

In a mid-credits scene, Weasel (Sean Gunn) from the first team survives his drowning in the Corto Maltese waters. In the post-credits scene, Peacemaker survives the events of the film and is taken into the hands of Wallers’ aids.

Revolutionary Roster

Gunn’s The Suicide Squad consists of an eccentric list of comic book antagonists and characters.

Team 1

• Brian Durlin/ Savant (Michael Rooker) — deceased (deserted the mission, head implant detonated by Waller)
• Col. Rick Flag (Kinnaman) — deceased (stabbed in the heart with glass shard by Peacemaker in Act III)
• Cory Pitzner/ The Detachable Kid aka “T.D.K.” (Nathan Fillion) — deceased (shot to death detached to arms)
• George “Digger” Harkness/ Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) — deceased (impaled with tree branches and burnt in helicopter explosion)
• Gunter Braun/ Javelin (Flula Borg) — deceased (shot multiple times in torso region)
• Mongal (Mayling Ng) — deceased (drenched in helicopter petroleum and caught on fire)
• Richard “Dick” Hertz/ Blackguard (Pete Davidson) — deceased (betrayed Task Force X, shot in the face by Corto Maltese soldiers)
• Weasel (Sean Gunn) — alive
• Harley Quinn (Robbie) — alive

Team 2

• Robert DuBois/ Bloodsport (Elba) — alive
• Nanaue/ King Shark (Steve Agee via motion capture; Sylvester Stallone via voice) — alive
• Christopher Smith (Cena) — seemingly killed, then brought into medical care
• Cleo Cazo/ Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior) — alive
• Abner Krill/ Polka-Dot Man (Dastmalchian) — deceased (crushed by Starro’s foot)

RELATED ARTICLE: Funko Pops for The Suicide Squad

Waller and Employees at Belle Reve

• Amanda Waller (Davis) — alive
• John Economos (Steve Agee) — alive
• Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) — alive
• Flo Crawley (Tinashe Kajese) — alive
• Dr. Fitzgibbons (John Ostrander) — alive
• Briscoe (Stephen Blackehart), the pilot taking Team 1 to Corto Maltese — alive

Residents of Corto Maltese

• President Silvio Luna (Juan Diego Botto) — deceased (shot in the torso by Quinn for having “red flags” i.e. subjecting children to Project Starfish in Jotunheim)
• Major General Mateo Suarez (Joaquín Cosío) — deceased (mind and body taken over by Starro)
• Dr. Gaius Grieves/ The Thinker (Peter Capaldi) — deceased (body ripped apart by Starro, then flung at a window)
• Sol Soria (Alice Braga) — alive
• Milton (Julio Ruiz), Team 2’s bus driver and Soria’s informant — deceased (shot by Suarez’s soldiers)
• Starro — deceased (weakened by Bloodsport, Polka-Dot Man, Quinn; bitten by King Shark; and eaten from within by Ratcatcher 2’s rat army)

Other Characters

• Polka-Dot Man’s mom (Lynne Ashe)
• Sebastian (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker), Ratcatcher 2’s main rat — alive
• Tyla (Storm Reid), Bloodsport’s daughter — alive
• Kaleidoscope (Natalia Safran), Calendar Man (Sean Gunn), Double Down (Jared Leland Gore), prisoners of Belle Reve — all alive
• Ratcatcher (Taika Waititi) — deceased (died from “burdens” aka drug overdose)

Crew Behind the Squad

Simon Hatt, Lars P. Winther, Charles Roven, and Peter Safran are the producers of the film. Meanwhile, Zack and Deborah Snyder, Chantal Nong Vo, Nikolas Korda, and Richard Suckle serve as the executive producers. John Murphy is the film’s musical scorer, while Henry Braham is the cinematographer. Patrick Loungway leads as the second unit director of photography.

In the editing department, we have Fred Raskin and Christian Wagner, with Chris Tonick and Craig Alpert doing the additional editing. Adam Kopald and Justin Doyle are the sound effects editors.

Kelvin McIlwain serves as the visual effects supervisor, while Fiona Campbell Westgate serves as the visual effects producer. David Acord does both sound design and supervising sound editing. Dan Südick is the special effects supervisor.

We have John Papsidera to thank for the casting. Judianna Makovsky serves as the costume designer, while Beth Mickle is the production designer. Lisa Tomczeszyn and Michelle Moon are the assistant costume designers. Vincent Bates, Nick Cross, Robert Fechtman, Kristen Jenkins, George Lee, Silvia Mahapatra, Marco Rubeo, Ed Symon, Kevin Vickery, and Kate Weddle serve as the set designers. Robin McMullan is the supervisor in the costume department.

Heba Thorisdottir serves as the department head of makeup, with Greg Funk as the key makeup artist. Sabrina Wilson, Jillian Erickson, Luandra Whitehurst, Ellen Arden, and Forrest Hill are makeup artists for most of the cast. Janine Thompson is the department head of hair, while Michelle Diamantides is the key hairstylist. Dee Dee Metzger, Kristen Saia, and Melizah Wheat are hairstylists for most of the cast (with Wheat also as a second unit key hairstylist).

Kellie Robinson and Bretty Mayo are Idris Elba’s makeup and hair stylists, respectively. Lucky Smyler and Jamika Wilson are Viola Davis’s makeup and hair stylists, respectively.

Discussion

Gunn’s sequel makes a strong improvement to David Ayer’s Suicide Squad. I prepared myself for this film by reading some Suicide Squad comics, watching The Dirty Dozen (1967) — which Gunn said serves as an inspiration —, and Gunn’s 2010 film, Super. I loved that just how well he was able to adapt Issues #1 & 2 (“Trial by Blood” and “Trial by Fire”) of Ostrander’s late-1980s/early-’90s run of the comic. The film pays very close attention to detail, with the brief inclusion of Briscoe (Task Force X’s pilot) and John Economos as well as the focus on Jotunheim. Although, rather than placing the building in the fictional Asian nation, Qurac, Gunn’s film posits it in the fictional South American country, Corto Maltese.

Another difference in the narrative is the different set of antagonists that the plot utilizes. Gunn enlists The Thinker, Luna, Suarez, and Starro, with Peacemaker as an antagonist in a surprise twist of events. Boomerang is also an important character from Ostrander’s run, and to see him go out in a blaze of glory hit a weird spot for me. I like that it is Blackguard who betrays the team, similar to Boomerang in the comics, who was the bitter member of the group.

Unlike Ayer’s film, which provides brief origin stories for each of its supervillains, Gunn pushes the characters into the mission from the get-go. I can see The Dirty Dozen‘s influence in his story, although leader character Rick Flag’s death is something I did not expect to happen. In terms of screenwriting, I can also see Gunn’s blend of genres (action, adventure, comedy, drama, etc.), which is also noticeable in his Guardians of the Galaxy films. For a rated-R film, it’s congruent with other comic book adaptations, such as Deadpool, Deadpool 2, and Birds of Prey.

Themes on Leadership and Politics

I admire the film’s political aspect, which was always a major element of Ostrander’s Suicide Squad. Rather than treating the antagonists of Corto Maltese as terrorists, like the comics did, the film examines their country’s push for gravity as a superpower in the public eye. While a laughable matter at first, Cena’s Peacemaker does mean to kill anyone in the name of liberty. This renders him a right-wing character in juxtaposition to Bloodsport and Flag’s liberal ideals, the former believing that huge sacrifices need to be made to ensure war is prevented. This makes them all the more polarizing as leaders.

The screenwriting drops the United States of America in a tough spot. Here (and of course, in real-life), it is suggested that the nation should be held accountable for the consequences of historical decisions instead of making another the scapegoat of ruin. I also love Task Force X’s resistance against governments and their soldiers. It’s reminiscent of the Rambo films, of which King Shark voice actor Stallone is also a star.

The Suicide Squad explores politics through feminine lenses via Quinn and Ratcatcher 2. Robbie’s character kills President Luna for his red flags and having the wrong idea of her “fire and rebellion in the face of American oppression”. She shoots him, explaining he is more beautiful when dead: “I think you’re more pretty like this, all those rotten thoughts emptied from your head”. On the other hand, we have Melchior’s character, who uses her power to ascend from homelessness and poverty to the point of apprehension. I can only assume both Portugal and the U.S. have failed her state of living because it isn’t until she is confined within prison walls that she can rest with ease.

Themes of Death

Aside from Waller and Peacemaker’s beliefs on sacrifice, the film does shed light on the darknesses of death.

• We have Rooker’s Savant kill a yellow bird in prison, only to have his corpse be eaten up by another yellow bird on the waters of Corto Maltese.
• Waller’s aids capitalize on the supervillains’ deaths by placing their bets. To them, these missions are just a game, that is, until they realize that their own country is affected by Task Force X’s actions. Similarly, Ratcatcher 2 says, “If I die because I gambled on love, it’ll be a worthy death”. She puts her faith and trust into her friends to not get herself and themselves killed.
• Javelin passes his weapon on to Quinn, which she uses to kill Corto Maltese soldiers. However, she still does not know the true purpose of the javelin. The character hopes God (or any god) will provide her with an answer.
• The film explores Polka-Dot Man’s psychology with having to kill his mother, who, as a trauma response, shows up everywhere he looks at everyone he sees. Also, when the team blows off steam with alcoholic beverages, Peacemaker tells Bloodsport, “A little drink never hurt nobody!” Polka-Dot Man responds with, “Except for the thousands of people killed in drunk driving accidents every year.”

Performances and Character Developments

Along with Kinnaman and Robbie, I believe all the actors from Task Force X Team 2 perform well.

Team 1

Robbie is perfect once again as Harley Quinn, showing that her character has already developed over the course of two previous movies. Although, Gunn’s The Suicide Squad doesn’t seem to acknowledge the events that transpired in Cathy Yan’s Birds of Prey. One of the many things I love about the character in this film is Robbie’s commitment to the stunts. In Ayer’s film, she fought in an elevator. In Gunn’s film, Robbie performed a stunt where she breaks out of her shackles.

I find Kinnaman’s Flag way more palatable here than in Ayer’s film. He demonstrates his grown love for his team members rather than perceiving them as cannon fodder to be wasted away. The character shows this when he has the team embark on a rescue side-mission for Quinn. Not only that, but he’s sympathetic and empathetic towards the lives of others, which is why he cannot allow even children to perish because of Jotunheim and Project Starfish.

I am disappointed in Jai Courtney’s Boomerang to be written out of the DCEU. I cannot even begin to imagine what this Rogue’s death will mean for Andy Muschietti’s upcoming DCEU installment, The Flash. Given his short screen time and the character’s historicity to the comics, I would like to believe his death was written in a necessary manner. With an R-rating, I love what his iconic weapons could do to the enemy, and very bloody too!

Surprisingly, out of the rest of Team 1, Mayling Ng delivered great as Mongal in around the 10 minutes that she is given. I would have liked to see how she fought in the field, less so with Javelin and Blackguard. Out of all the adjectives I could attribute to this team, the performances that the actors share are comical.

Team 2

I like Cena as an antagonist more than I have when he was in Universal Studios’ F9 as Jakob Toretto. His motives are more reasonable (and relatable to some). With his Peacemaker series heading to HBO Max next year, I cannot wait to see how he progresses from here.

Elba performs well as Bloodsport from the beginning to the end, including his scene with Storm Reid as his daughter, Tyla. It is unfortunate that we only get to see her in two scenes of the film. Their fight in the visitation room is one of the stronger parts of Act I, and I would have liked to see what else their dynamic can offer.

King Shark is a great character, especially with the two actors who play him. However, I am unsure as to whether he can be as impactful as an adorable, loveable character as Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy.

Melchior and Dastmalchian give us respectable characters with the amount of time they’re confined to, respectively. Ratcatcher 2 is relatable to young individuals, just trying to make ends meet and aiming for a potent yet humble reputation. Polka-Dot Man is more of the quieter members of the team, and it’s only because of the trauma he faces with having been experimented on by his mother. Both characters are still children at heart. With their backstories, it’s difficult to believe they’ve properly lived their lives like the other members.

Others

Davis is still excellent as Amanda Waller, but we just don’t get enough screentime from her to really say. However, Waller is now starting to learn what the stakes are when putting people’s lives at risk. She is a more hesitant individual than she seemed in the first film, and this gives her a weak spot.

Ruiz was not given as much to do as the supporting character, Milton. Of course, this is what the script calls for, and the characters find themselves discussing and bantering about his death. I just wish he had more screentime, and the same could be said for Braga and her character, Sol Soria. She is a great actress, but her minimal time on-screen left me with no reason to care much for Soria and the cause she represents.

Finally, we have the Thinker, the only human antagonist not in the team that I cared about. Unfortunately, the character had more to offer in The CW’s The Flash. That is not to say that Peter Capaldi did not give his all. He did, but as a character, I expected more.

Easter Eggs

It has been a long while since I’ve included Easter Eggs and references in an article. Allow me to continue that little tradition of mine.

• “Mario Kart-racing D-bags”
  • I don’t know if I will ever understand why Gunn included this little line in the film. Is it because President Luna and General Suarez look like Mario and Luigi? That can’t be it…right?
• Guns laid down
  • After Quinn has sex with Luna, we then see them lying on the ground with guns around them. This is a good allusion to Jared Leto’s Joker in a scene from Ayer’s film.
• Psycho
  • When Polka-Dot Man breaks out with polka-dot blemishes a second time, Peacemaker refers to him as “Norman Bates.” The character’s milieu (background and mannerisms) all the way down to the dead image of his mother is strikingly similar to Norman Bates of Psycho and Bates Motel.
• “Inspector Gadget”
  •  Bloodsport has technological pieces that, when put together, can create weapons and other devices, much like the iconic detective.
• Ratatouille
  • When the team attempts to rescue Quinn, Flag refers to Ratcatcher 2 as “Ratatouille”. This is due to Cazo’s platonic connection to the rats, and how one has control over the other.
• Pandemic Coincidences
  • Quinn and Flag tell The Thinker not to cough without covering his mouth. Later, Ratcatcher 2 urges the team to protect their faces from Starro. She herself uses her mask to avoid getting touched by the starfish. I guess “masks save lives” is true after all…

Final Thoughts

I appreciate the film’s use of the three-act plot structure, where each seems to overlap with one another. Additionally, I like the chapter/title cards that it uses; they make me feel like I’m watching comic book panels come to life before my very eyes. With a good 2 hours and 12 minutes, Gunn, the cast, and the crew do not waste time. Every second is worthwhile.

The Suicide Squad is so great that it doesn’t even seem like a James Gunn-written/directed film. Although the cinematography, music choices, and visual effects might say otherwise. I mean, how can you deny the presence of Johnny Cash, Kansas, and Pixies in your ears? The film does get wobbly, but Gunn knows how to maintain a good balance. It has something for everybody: action, comedy, drama, friendship, love, politics, religion. If you are a fan of Ostrander’s comic book run, this is absolutely the right adaptation you’ve been looking for.

James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad is now in theaters and available on HBO Max!

Have you seen this new DCEU film? What are your thoughts on it? Let us know! For more action, adaptation, adaption, adventure, blockbuster, comedy, comic book, and science fiction-related news and reviews, follow The Cinema Spot on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!